Vehicle theft presents an ongoing problem to society in that loses to insurance companies are reflected in the insurance premiums of all vehicle owners. Stolen vehicles are often involved in accidents resulting in further harm to people, other vehicles and other property. While the prior art is replete with vehicle anti-theft devices and alarm systems, the problem of vehicle theft remains seemingly unabated. No anti-theft device or system has heretofore provided the necessary features to either prevent vehicle theft from occurring in the first place or, more importantly, to provide a mechanism for aborting a theft once the vehicle has actually been stolen.
Many attempts have been made to provide effective vehicle anti-theft systems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,917,423 for VEHICLE TRACKING TRANSPONDER AND TRANSPONDER METHOD, issued Jun. 29, 1999 to William R. Duvall provides a system wherein an on-vehicle transponder allows tracking of a stolen vehicle. The DUVALL system also includes a vehicle operator-activated “panic” alarm to transmit a distress signal. In addition, detection circuits to sense hot wiring attempts, unauthorized starting, and other abnormal vehicle conditions are provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,629 for APPARATUS FOR LOCATING AND/OR TRACKING STOLEN OR MISSING VEHICLES AND THE LIKE, issued Mar. 13, 1990 to Sheldon P. Apsell et al. provides a vehicle tracking and location system. This APSELL et al. patent is assigned on its face to the well known stolen/missing vehicle tracking company, LoJack, Incorporated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,283 for PAGER VEHICLE THEFT PREVENTION AND RECOVERY SYSTEM, issued Aug. 11, 1998 to Ronnie Davis discloses a system having a built-in transceiver which, in cooperation with an on-vehicle GPS receiver, transmits the vehicle's current coordinates to a pager.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,065 for CONCEALED INTEGRATED VEHICULAR CAMERA SYSTEM, issued Nov. 21, 2000 to Van P. Steed et al. provides a concealed camera useful for capturing images of one or more vehicle occupants.
None of these patents, individually or in any combination, teaches or suggests the novel anti-theft system of the present invention.